Our Bridging Boundaries programs resume in-person this month. We are excited to return to Manson YI for two 10-week Dads & Kids sessions after a successful pilot this past spring. Each session will include nine preparatory classes allowing the participating dads time to explore writing, visual arts, and movement to prepare them for a special visit with their children and families. This will be the first in-person visit to take place and will happen before the winter holidays, allowing the families to spend quality time together during a season in which separation can be especially hard.

JDPP will also be returning to Community Partners in Action’s Step-down facility for juvenile males after another successful pilot program last year. We are eager to continue our work with these young men in two 10-week sessions both culminating in a sharing for facility staff and invited guests. The final sharings allow the participants to highlight the important creative work completed during the weekly engagements with teaching artists.

Both our York Moms & Kids and Cybulski Dads & Kids programs also resume this fall. This year the Dads & Kids program at Cybulski will move back to in-person family visits after meeting virtually because of Covid requirements. In-person visits provide much needed family time for the children and Dads. Moms & Kids started in-person visits this year and it was fabulous to see families reunite after such a long period of separation during the pandemic. We are excited to see this aspect of the program return for all our families!

New Beginnings will begin in September with Trinity students from a course titled Justice Alternatives and the Arts and returning citizens from the community. This fall we will have several new returned citizens joining us and the theme will be With These Hands: Connecting Self, Community and Earth. New Beginnings continues as a virtual project to allow for the most participation possible. It will culminate in a presentation on Zoom on December 5^th so watch for announcements in the future.